Pak denies agreeing to freeze Kashmir dispute

Pakistan on Thursday dispelled rumours that it had agreed with India to freeze the dispute over Kashmir.

"We have no plans to freeze or put the Kashmir issue on the back-burner,'' a foreign ministry spokesperson said in Islamabad.

However, the dialogue resumed by the two neighbouring states at foreign ministers and secretaries levels on improving relations was a positive development and would be continued, he said.

The foreign secretaries of the two countries are to meet in Islamabad to evolve an agenda for further talks before their prime ministers proceed to the summit meeting of the May 12 to 14 seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in the Indian Ocean island republic of the Maldives.

But the meeting of the two prime ministers in the Maldives will not be the meeting envisaged by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief in his letter to Prime Minister Deve Gowda, the spokesperson said.

After coming to power in February, Sharief had told the Indian premier in a letter that some progress on the Kashmir issue would pave the way for their meeting.

''We have been in favour of the United Nations’ good offices,'' the spokesperson said, commenting on reports that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had invited the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan to meet in New York under his auspices.

However, he said he did not have "anything definite" on the reported offer.